Articles

Arthur Frommer Online

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Hilton Drops Daily Room Cleanings at U.S. Hotels, But Not Rates

From now on, daily housekeeping as a matter of course at Hilton hotels is a thing of the past. In an update to its pandemic-inspired CleanStay program, the company announced that…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Is It Wise to Book Group Tours at This Time? Our Advice

Even in the best of times, group tours are tremendously complicated travel products. A tour company not only has to create an appealing itinerary. It must also arrange for all…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Hertz Accused of Slapping Fees on Innocent Customers: How to Protect Yourself

Tuesday's Los Angeles Times had a skin-crawling story about Hertz, the rental car giant that just emerged from bankruptcy last week. The article tells the tale of a family who picked…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

A Taxi and Uber Shortage Is Making Airport Transfers Hard: Here's What to Do

In many American cities this summer, the line for taxis is making the TSA queue look short by comparison. The wait for rideshare services like Uber and Lyft isn't much better—and their…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

The World’s Most and Least Expensive Cities for Expats in 2021

Interested in living abroad? Turns out you're likely to blow your budget fastest in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, according to a well-regarded annual ranking of the world's most expensive…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

What Travelers Need to Know About American Airlines' Service Meltdown

We've been warning for weeks that the return to travel this summer would be bumpy. But I don't think any of us could have predicted just how ugly things could get this week. Over the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Royal Caribbean Will Charge Unvaccinated Cruisers More And Bar Them From Some Activities

Update, July 1: What follows now applies to Celebrity Cruises as well as its sister line Royal Caribbean. Celebrity has announced that for sailings from Florida, passengers who fail to…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

How to Survive the USA's Crazy-Busy National Parks This Summer

America is entering a summer of pent-up travel energy following more than a year of homebound life. And as long as most international countries remain unready to fling open their doors…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

ICYMI: These Big Names in Travel Couldn't Survive 2020 and 2021

We don't have to tell you that Covid-19 has changed the world. In fact, there's so much in our shifting lives that requires attention you might have missed word of the final chapters…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

This Summer, Travel Isn't Working Like It Used To, So Bring Your Patience

As a society, we're still coping with a once-in-a-century trauma—and several of us aren't handling the stress well. Some travelers are snapping, losing their marbles in the worst…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

We’re in Danger of Losing These Historic American Places

The islands in Boston Harbor, 19th-century railway tunnels in California's mountains, a Navajo trading post in Utah, and several important remnants of the Jim Crow era are among the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

If You Sail Royal Caribbean from Florida or Texas, Fellow Travelers Will Be Unvaccinated

In the run-up to restarting operations, Royal Caribbean International was one of the first cruise lines to assure customers that when services resumed, every adult on board would be…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Wanna Go to Sicily? The Italian Island Will Help Pay for Your Vacation

In April 2020, I told you about a plan Sicily hatched to restart its tourism industry. The government announced it had set aside millions of euros to pay 50% of visitors' airfares and…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Thanks to Plummeting Hotel Costs, This Could be New York's Most Affordable Summer in Years

Hotel rates and Broadway show tickets have long been the two most expensive parts of most visitors' trips to New York City. But on Wednesday, May 19, some of those expenses were…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Going to Disney Is Different Now. Someone Should Warn You About These 10 Things

The return of travel brings the return of reassuring old habits. Just as some people feel incomplete until they can root for their favorite baseball team in person again at their local…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Alaska Cruises Are Back! Congress Saves the 2021 Season and Trips Are Already on Sale

Vacationers had written off the 2021 cruise season in Alaska as another casualty of Covid-19. Canada, seeking to protect the health of its population, banned big cruise ships from…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Newly Launched Breeze Airways Connects Smaller U.S. Cities for Low Fares

A new low-cost airline dedicated to serving small and "underserved" U.S. cities is set to take off this week. Breeze Airways, the fifth airline startup backed by JetBlue founder David…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Travel Prices Will Rise Sharply in the Coming Weeks, Warns a New Report

I've always said that one of my main jobs as a travel writer is to make really stupid mistakes so I can warn my readers about what not to do. Glory be, I made one such mistake in early…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Royal Caribbean Yanks Newest Ship from Haifa, but Will Politics Ruin a Florida Homecoming?

Americans who had hoped to spend some quality summer time aboard Royal Caribbean's newest megaship, Odyssey of the Seas, might now get their shot. In late winter, the cruise line…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Masks Are Coming Off but Not on Public Transportation—with One Exception

Science has spoken! Yesterday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that Covid-19 vaccines have been so effective that fully vaccinated Americans can return to…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

U.S. Now Accepts Home Covid Tests from International Travelers and Returning Americans

Travelers entering the United States may now use at-home tests to prove they're negative for Covid-19, according to rules updated last week by the Centers for Disease Control and…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

With the Return of Travel Comes the Return of Robocall Travel Scams

If the pandemic had one silver lining, it was that, from March through August, the number of robocalls of all sorts dropped precipitously. Like everyone else, the employees of the call…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Australia Will Stay Closed to Travel Until 2022

In a surprise move, Australia Finance Minister Simon Birmingham told The Australian today that the country would likely not reopen its borders until well into 2022. The previous target…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Will a Gasoline Shortage Kill Summer Road Trips? Advice From An Expert

Toilet paper shortages? That's so 2020. This year, sources have been warning about an issue that chills the blood quickly: not enough fuel at gas stations. "It's been a bit of a…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Masks Will Be Required on Planes, Trains, and Buses Into September

Masks aren't going away anytime soon, at least not on public transportation in the United States. The Transportation Security Administration has extended its mask mandate through…